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RE: TBM Shock Jet

Wow Billy D, that's one of the most exciting landings I have seen in a while. Fortunately, you brought her down safely, even under two wheel conditions... Great Job! Once you get the wheels secure, you will have have one great flying remote controlled airplane...

RE: TBM Shock Jet

Did TBM fix the issue with the wing bolt anchors crushing? I got to the part of the build where you're asked to re-enforce using pieces of 3/8" dowels and I noticed a couple of things: 1) the openings at the top of the wing (front) are much larger than the dowel, they are 3/4" in diameter and 2) the wood is this whole area seems to be very hard, on par with the wood dowel you're asked to use.

I know that there have been several revisions to this bird and I don't know if the wing hold down area is something that's been revised and the whole adding dowels thing is now obsolete.

RE: TBM Shock Jet

Jaime, you shouldn't have any problems with the wing. Just follow the instructions and make sure to reinforce the bolt area with CA so it hardens. You should not have any problems as long a stay with in the parameters of the manual. Here is my most recent video: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWgbgyZa8c

RE: TBM Shock Jet

Hi Folks - I'm new to this forum and have found the information contained herein very helpful. Thanks. I've recently acquired a Shock Jet, but haven't flown it yet.

Today another pilot at our field was demonstrating the short takeoff roll of his Shock jet. He over rotated a bit, and the tail struck the runway on the takeoff roll. The elevator servo arm was observed to break and the control rod was seen hanging down from the elevator attach point. Needless to say, he had no elevator control, and the flight was very short with the Jet going straight in. A total loss.

Upon arriving home, I pushed the tail of my airplane down and found the first thing to touch the ground is the threaded rod that passes through the elevator which is the attach point for the elevator control rod. The obvious solution to this dangerous problem is to fabricate a tail skid which would attach to the lower fuselage and touch the ground before the threaded control rod, thus protecting the elevator control in the event of a tail strike. Such a skid would be very easy to fabricate and would have saved the airplane that crashed today. Anyone done this? I will before mine is flown.

RE: TBM Shock Jet

Never seen it done and don't have one on mine but I don't pitch that hard on takeoff. You can slam the tail on any of them. Just take off in a normal fashion and you will be fine. Another friend of mine has a JC Falcon in his and does a jump takeoff sometimes but he clears the deck before he hauls back on it. Good luck with your Shock. It's a fun flying jet.

RE: TBM Shock Jet

When demonstrating the VERY short takeoff distance of my Shok, I apply the brake, firewall the power and hold full-up elevator. When the brake can no longer keep the airplane from moving, I release it while continuing to hold the up-elevator. After a roll of 6-10 feet, it rotates. Upon rotation, I instantly center the elevator and begin climbing. This is done with the flaps fully UP. If the flaps are down, it's very difficult to keep the nose down since the flaps cause a lot of pitch-up that the elevator just can't counter at such stupid-low airspeeds. The only reason I consistantly get away with this kind of takeoff is that I have 20 lbs. of thrust on tap and a borderline-psychotic need to use every ounce of it. With 12-15 lbs. of thrust, I can see where you could drag the elevator horn before it lifted off. I've never even thought about it before, as I've never been able to drag the tail before liftoff. With mine, once it rotates, the nozzle pointing down and the increasing AOA of the wing conspire to produce near-instant liftoff with no time for the tail to drag. I will still be installing a skid to protect the elevator horn, though. Thanks for the heads-up.

"Never wound a problem. Kill it dead." Clarence "Kelly" Johnson

"Speed is great, speed works. Where would we be as a species without speed? You know, we'd still be eating mud." Jeremy Clarkson

RE: TBM Shock Jet

I agree. The airplane would just continue to climb until the power was reduced. I once flew a Shok owned by a friend I was helping to get ready for his waiver test. When doing a touch and go, if you didn't retract the flaps immediately upon touchdown, it would stand on it's tail as soon as it lifted off, even with full-down elevator. Scared the hell out of me the first time it happened. If not for the fact that it had a lot of power, (K-80) it would have simply fallen out of the sky 10 ft. above the ground. Mine doesn't have this tendancy, and we've never figured out why. Could have to do with a bad combination of aft-CG and and inadequate downthrust but that's just a guess on my part.

"Never wound a problem. Kill it dead." Clarence "Kelly" Johnson

"Speed is great, speed works. Where would we be as a species without speed? You know, we'd still be eating mud." Jeremy Clarkson

RE: TBM Shock Jet

The wing doesn't need to be 2-piece, just clip it! Here's my clipped wing next to my full-span wing. The clipped wing is 64" span. Small enough for almost any vehicle. The roll-rate is 3-4 times faster than the stock wing. I left the ailerons the stock span and removed 8" from each flap and wing tip. It lands a bit faster, but still SLOOOOOW by turbine standards. And that's with a 101oz. tank and a Rabbit. Lots of fun and hauls *****!

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"Never wound a problem. Kill it dead." Clarence "Kelly" Johnson

"Speed is great, speed works. Where would we be as a species without speed? You know, we'd still be eating mud." Jeremy Clarkson

RE: TBM Shock Jet

Sorry to say that I don't, Honda. I should be able to fix that after the first of the year, though. A new guy in the club not only loves to shoot video, but he's quite good at it and just bought a really nice high-def camera. The SJ wing is notoriously weak when flown aggressively. My first one separated in the center after about 25 flights powered by a 14lb. SuperBee. Luckily, I spotted it while refueling. TBM told me it was my fault, of course, but funny thing, the "fix" they later put out was EXACTLY what I told them was needed. That was three years ago, so the wing construction may have changed since then, though I doubt it. My solution on my second SJ was to strip the wing, clip it and after epoxying the two halves together, glassing the hell out of the center section before re-covering. 100+ flights later, I'm convinced that it's pretty much bullet-proof. I can pull all the gee I want and it keeps coming back for more.

"Never wound a problem. Kill it dead." Clarence "Kelly" Johnson

"Speed is great, speed works. Where would we be as a species without speed? You know, we'd still be eating mud." Jeremy Clarkson

RE: TBM Shock Jet

If your still worried about the wing, you may want to look at post #678 to see the mod I did with the wing before putting it together with glass/resin. Its easy and adds additional strength. Lots of flights on this wing and no problems.

RE: TBM Shock Jet

Molar Mender: I'm not worried about the wing breaking. I just need it to come apart. Dealing with an 80" wing is rough.

RCGuy59: The more I think about it... clipping the wing isn't the answer either. I need a stable floater.

OK... I've been talking with Roy, and I know he still actively flys his SJ. BUT... for the guys with some turbine stick time, and other scale models... do you still find yourself flying a SJ? Or are the majority of you guys just getting your waiver with it, and moving on.

Here's my deal. I'm joining a new club... and the field is a little tight, and it's a rough grass strip. Also... there are ball fields at the one end that we are not allowed to fly over. So... I need a jet that I can make a tight turn for landing... and not get busted up flying on grass all the time.

I think that the SJ is the answer to my problem... but something in the back of my head keeps telling me not to buy one.